Tick‐, mosquito‐, and rodent‐borne parasite sampling designs for the National Ecological Observatory Network

Parasites and pathogens are increasingly recognized as significant drivers of ecological and evolutionary change in natural ecosystems. Concurrently, transmission of infectious agents among human, livestock, and wildlife populations represents a growing threat to veterinary and human health. In light of these trends and the scarcity of long‐term time series data on infection rates among vectors and reservoirs, the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will collect measurements and samples of a suite of tick‐, mosquito‐, and rodent‐borne parasites through a continental‐scale surveillance program. Here, we describe the sampling designs for these efforts, highlighting sampling priorities, field and analytical methods, and the data as well as archived samples to be made available to the research community. Insights generated by this sampling will advance current understanding of and ability to predict changes in infection and disease dynamics in novel, interdisciplinary, and collaborative ways

Distribution and Abundance of Host-seeking Culex Species at Three Proximate Locations with Different Levels of West Nile Virus Activity

Culex species were monitored at three proximate sites with historically different West Nile virus (WNV) activities. The site with human WNV transmission (epidemic) had the lowest abundance of the putative bridge vectors, Culex pipiens and Cx. salinarius. The site with horse cases but not human cases (epizootic) had the highest percent composition of Cx. salinarius, whereas the site with WNV-positive birds only (enzootic) had the highest Cx. pipiens abundance and percent composition. A total of 29 WNV-positive Culex pools were collected at the enzootic site, 17 at the epidemic site, and 14 at the epizootic site. Published models of human risk using Cx. pipiens and Cx. salinarius as the primary bridge vectors did not explain WNV activity at our sites. Other variables, such as additional vector species, environmental components, and socioeconomic factors, need to be examined to explain the observed patterns of WNV epidemic activity

Comparative Analysis of Distribution and Abundance of West Nile and Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis Virus Vectors in Suffolk County, New York, Using Human Population Density and Land Use/Cover Data

Five years of CDC light trap data from Suffolk County, NY, were analyzed to compare the applicability of human population density (HPD) and land use/cover (LUC) classification systems to describe mosquito abundance and to determine whether certain mosquito species of medical importance tend to be more common in urban (defined by HPD) or residential (defined by LUC) areas. Eleven study sites were categorized as urban or rural using U.S. Census Bureau data and by LUC types using geographic information systems (GISs). Abundance and percent composition of nine mosquito taxa, all known or potential vectors of arboviruses, were analyzed to determine spatial patterns. By HPD definitions, three mosquito species, Aedes canadensis (Theobald), Coquillettidia perturbans (Walker), and Culiseta melanura (Coquillett), differed significantly between habitat types, with higher abundance and percent composition in rural areas. Abundance and percent composition of these three species also increased with freshwater wetland, natural vegetation areas, or a combination when using LUC definitions. Additionally, two species, Ae. canadensis and Cs. melanura, were negatively affected by increased residential area. One species, Aedes vexans (Meigen), had higher percent composition in urban areas. Two medically important taxa, Culex spp. and Aedes triseriatus (Say), were proportionally more prevalent in residential areas by LUC classification, as was Aedes trivittatus (Coquillett). Although HPD classification was readily available and had some predictive value, LUC classification resulted in higher spatial resolution and better ability to develop location specific predictive models

Prioritizing Water Security in the Management of Vector Borne Diseases: Lessons from Oaxaca Mexico

Changes in human water use, along with temperature and rainfall patterns, are facilitating habitat spread and distribution of Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictusmosquitoes, the primary vectors for the transmission of Dengue, Chikungunya, and Zika viruses in the Americas. Artificial containers and wet spots provide major sources of mosquito larval habitat in residential areas. Mosquito abatement and control strategies remain the most effective public health interventions for minimizing the impact of these vector borne diseases. Understanding how water insecurity is conducive to the establishment and elimination of endemic mosquito populations, particularly in arid or semi‐arid regions, is a vital component in shaping these intervention strategies

Effects of Environmental Factors on the Abundance of Blacklegged Ticks

The nymphal stage of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, is the major vector of Lyme disease, the most common vector-borne disease in North America. Tick abundance has generally been estimated using either flag/drag samples or samples from hosts. However, the biases of these sampling methods have not been adequately studied. We compared samples using both methods from sites in Massachusetts and Wisconsin. Tick abundance was compared with variables related to weather (temperature, relative humidity, and tick adverse moisture events), vegetation (canopy cover, tree density, shrub density, ground vegetation, and leaf litter cover), and host abundance (mice, small mammals, medium sized mammals, and all hosts). A model with relative humidity in the leaf litter and canopy cover variables gave the best prediction of tick numbers per flag/drag sample (R2 = 0.829, p = 0.0006). In contrast, the number of small mammals collected per sample in Sherman traps and pitfall traps gave the best prediction of ticks collected per sample from all hosts (R2 = 0.580, p = 0.0057) and the number of ticks per mouse (R2 = 0.580, p = 0.0057). Therefore, the most significant environmental factors that influence I. scapularis abundance vary, based on the particular location of the tick sampled. Ticks found in leaf litter and ticks found on hosts experience very different environments and the factors that influence their abundance are different, so studies of tick population biology should select sampling methods based on the features of the population under study. These results indicate that risk of encounter with host-seeking ticks is greatest in areas with dense canopy cover and moist leaf litter

Effect of Temperature on Feeding Period of Larval Blacklegged Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) on Eastern Fence Lizards

Ambient temperature can influence tick development time, and can potentially affect tick interactions with pathogens and with vertebrate hosts. We studied the effect of ambient temperature on duration of attachment of larval blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis Say, to eastern fence lizards, Sceloporus undulatus (Bosc & Daudin). Feeding periods of larvae that attached to lizards under preferred temperature conditions for the lizards (WARM treatment: temperatures averaged 36.6°C at the top of the cage and 25.8°C at the bottom, allowing behavioral thermoregulation) were shorter than for larvae on lizards held under cool conditions (COOL treatment temperatures averaged 28.4°C at top of cage and 24.9°C at the bottom). The lizards were infested with larvae four times at roughly monthly intervals. Larval numbers successfully engorging and dropping declined and feeding period was longer after the first infestation

Highly Variable Acquisition Rates of \u3ci\u3eIxodes scapularis\u3c/i\u3e (Acari: Ixodidae) by Birds on an Atlantic Barrier Island

Acquisition of ticks by bird hosts is a central process in the transmission cycles of many tick-borne zoonoses, but tick recruitment by birds has received little direct study. We documented acquisition of Ixodes scapularis Say on birds at Fire Island, NY, by removing ticks from mist-netted birds, and recording the number of ticks on birds recaptured within 4 d of release. Eight bird species acquired at least 0.8 ticks bird−1 day−1 during the seasonal peak for at least one age class of I. scapularis. Gray Catbirds, Eastern Towhees, Common Yellowthroats, and Northern Waterthrushes collectively accounted for 83% of all tick acquisitions; and six individuals apportioned among Black-billed Cuckoo, Gray Catbird, Eastern Towhee, and Common Yellowthroat were simultaneously infested with both larvae and nymphs. Bird species with the highest acquisition rates were generally ground foragers, whereas birds that did not acquire ticks in our samples generally foraged above the ground. Tick acquisition by birds did not differ between deciduous and coniferous forests. Among the 15 bird species with the highest recruitment rates, acquisition of nymphs was not correlated with acquisition of larvae. Tick acquisition rates by individual bird species were not correlated with the reservoir competence of those species for Lyme borreliae. However, birds with high tick acquisition rates can contribute large numbers of infected ticks, and thus help maintain the enzootic cycle, even if their levels of reservoir competence are relatively low

The Horse and Deer Flies (Diptera: Tabanidae) of Rhode Island

The Tabanidae of Rhode Island were surveyed using Rhode Island canopy traps placed at 20 locations in the state during the summers of 1999 and 2000. In total, 5,120 flies were collected, which included 55 species in the genera Chrysops, Hybomitra, Tabanus, Merycomyia, and Stonemyia. Distributional and ecological information is provided for each species in Rhode Island

Potential Nontarget Effects of Metarhizium anisopliae (Deuteromycetes) Used for Biological Control of Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae)

The potential for nontarget effects of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae (Metschnikoff) Sorokin, when used for biological control of ticks, was assessed in laboratory trials. Fungal pathogenicity was studied against convergent ladybird beetles, Hippodamia convergens Guérin-Méneville, house crickets, Acheta domesticus (L.), and the milkweed bugs Oncopeltus fasciatus (Dallas). Fungal spores applied with a spray tower produced significant mortality in H. convergens and A. domesticus, but effects on O. fasciatus were marginal. Placing treated insects with untreated individuals resulted in mortality from horizontal transmission to untreated beetles and crickets, but not milkweed bugs. Spread of fungal infection in the beetles resulted in mortality on days 4–10 after treatment, while in crickets mortality was on day 2 after treatment, suggesting different levels of pathogenicity and possibly different modes of transmission. Therefore, M. anisopliae varies in pathogenicity to different insects. Inundative applications can potentially affect nontarget species, but M. anisopliae is already widely distributed in North America, so applications for tick control generally would not introduce a novel pathogen into the environment. Pathogenicity in lab trials does not, by itself, demonstrate activity under natural conditions, so field trials are needed to confirm these results and to assess methods to minimize nontarget exposure

Pathogenicity of Steinernema carpocapsae and S. glaseri (Nematoda: Steinernematidae) to Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae)

The entomopathogenic nematodes Steinernema carpocapsae (Weiser) and S. glaseri (Steiner) are pathogenic to engorged adult, blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis (Say), but not to unfed females, engorged nymphs, or engorged larvae. Nematodes apparently enter the tick through the genital pore, thus precluding infection of immature ticks. The timing of tick mortality, and overall mortality after 17 d, did not differ between infections by S. carpocapsae and S. glaseri. These nematodes typically do not complete their life cycles or produce infective juveniles in I. scapularis. However, both species successfully produced infective juveniles when the tick body was slit before nematode infection. Mortality of engorged I. scapularis females infected by S. carpocapsae was greater than uninfected controls, but did not vary significantly with nematode concentration (50-3,000 infective juveniles per 5-cm-diameter petri dish). The LC50 was 347.8 infective juveniles per petri dish (5 ticks per dish). Hatched egg masses of infected ticks weighed less than those of uninfected controls. Mortality of infected ticks was greatest between 20 and 30°C, and was lower at 15°